Bank of America Nabs Twitter Impostor

BofA’s presence on Twitter saved them from brand-jacking and saved consumers from potential ID theft.

Bank of America has been successfully using Twitter as a help desk where David Knapp communicates through tweets with customers who are having issues with their accounts. (Ultimately, he takes customer conversations offline to assist them privately and securely, but the micro-blog is proving a successful means for first contact.)

An impostor set up a Twitter account (Bofabanker) on February 24 claiming to be a part of the bank. Within a day of the new account being posted, Knapp outed the impersonator by sending this tweet: “I work for Bank of America, please send me a DM so we can discuss your presence on Twitter. You’re considered an impersonator.”

Bofabanker quickly changed his profile from “I work at the bank you love to hate” to “I own stock in bofa. some is in my 401k, and I like to trade BAC every day. I also indirectly lend to them.”

I love this story because it shows how effective Twitter can be in both connecting with your customers – and in monitoring your brand presence to protect against brand-jacking. Had Knapp not been so active on Twitter, this poser bofabanker could have bilked people out of their cash – or worse – their identity.

Jennifer Jones-Mitchell

A global leader in social media marketing, Jennifer Jones-Mitchell has been at the center of traditional and digital PR since the mid 90s and has helped launch some of the world's most loved brands. She has been blogging about PR and social media marketing since 2007. Learn more at: www.jenniferjonesmitchell.com